LP-M&M Graphing

M&M Counting:

Do you know how many M&Ms are in a typical bag? How many of each color? Is each bag always the same? These are just some of the questions we are going to answer with this activity. We will be following the instructions below as a class by reading each step and then completing it before we go on to the next step.

BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR BAG OF M&Ms:

• Write the following labels on the bottom or your sheet of paper leaving room above each color to stack the appropriate M&Ms: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Brown and Blue.
• Open your bag of M&M's and sort them by color on your paper creating a graph by stacking your M&Ms by color on your paper as shown in the example below:

	Red	Yellow	Orange	Green	Brown	Blue
M&M Count:

1. Count your totals by color and write your totals on your sheet of paper. After you have written your totals on your paper, put your M&Ms into the bag provided. The candy is yours to keep but do not eat it in class!!
2. OPEN EXCEL and create a new workbook following the directions below:
   1. Merge and center <Your Name>'s Candy Counting in cells A1-H1.
   2. Add the following column headings to row 2 in the cells indicated - resize the columns as needed. Do not use more than one column for each heading!
      A2: Student Name (literally type Student Name not your name!)
      B2: Red
      C2: Yellow
      D2: Orange
      E2: Green
      F2: Brown
      G2: Blue
      H2: TOTAL
   3. Change the font color and/or background color of the cells to match each M&M color. For example, either change the font color or background color of cell B2 to red, cell C2 to yellow, etc.
   4. Add your totals to your spreadsheet in row 3. Don't worry about the Totals column yet. SAVE YOUR WORK as YOUR NAME - CANDY.
   5. Take your tally sheet and move to the next computer and add your totals to the first blank row. Repeat for all student computers in the lab. When you get back to your computer, your spreadsheet should contain all of the counts for all of the students in the class.
   6. Now we're going to calculate totals for each student. We will try different methods to do this so you understand how Excel does totals.
      1. For the first student, go to cell H3 and enter =B3+C3+D3+E3+F3+G3 and then press the Enter key. Did this calculate the total?
      2. For the second student, go to cell H4 and enter =SUM(B4,C4,D4,E4,F4,G4) and then press the Enter key. Did this calculate the total?
      3. For the third student, go to cell H5 and enter =SUM(B5:G5) and then press the Enter key. Did this calculate the total?
      4. For the fourth student, select cells B6 through H6 and press the Auto Sum Key which is found on the Standard Toolbar and then press the Enter key. What displayed in your cell when you pressed the Auto Sum Key? Did this calculate the total?
      5. Now, we're going to add the totals to the remaining students by copying the formula in Step iv above to the remaining cells. To do this:
         • Select cell H6
         • Hold the mouse over the little square in the bottom right corner of the cell and drag downwards until all cells where you want the formula applied are highlighted
         • Release the mouse and the formula will copy into each cell highlighted changing the cell addresses to match the row it is on. Check the formula in the row of the last student in the class and see what's there.
           Did you notice that no matter how we entered the formula to calculate the total that we started with the equal sign (=)? What does the colon (:) mean in the formula in Step iii (and after)?
      6. SAVE YOUR WORK

1. Now we are going to add some totals and calculations for the whole class:
   1. On the first blank row, enter the label Class Totals in Column A. Then press the Tab Key and go to Column B. Now add up each column - we want the total number of Red M&Ms for the class and the total Yellow and the total Orange, etc. and we want the total of all M&Ms for the class. As an example, if you had 10 students in your class, the formula in cell B15 which would total all of the Red M&Ms for the class would be =SUM(B3:B12) because B3 is the cell address for Red M&Ms for the first student in the class and B12 is the cell address for Red M&Ms for the last student in the class. Note: This is not the exact formula you would use since you will probably have more than 10 students! Once you have the formula for column B you can use the method we used in step 2.6.5 from above to copy this to the other columns just dragging to the right rather than dragging down.
      What is another method you could use to calculate the total in column B?
   2. SAVE YOUR WORK
   3. Now we are going to calculate the MEAN (we usually refer to this as the average), MEDIAN (what's the middle number in the series) and MODE (what's the number that occurs the most in the series) for each of the colors.
      1. In the row after Class Totals, enter the label MEAN in column A and press the Tab Key to go to column B. To calculate the Mean in Excel we use the AVERAGE function. The AVERAGE function is formatted just like the SUM function we have been using. For example, if you had 10 students in your class, the formula you would enter to calculate the MEAN would be =AVERAGE(B3:B12). Note: This is not the exact formula you would use since you will probably have more than 10 students and you may have more or less blank lines! Once you have the formula for column B you can use the method we used in step 2.6.5 above to copy this to the other columns just dragging to the right rather than dragging down.
      2. Repeat what you did for MEAN in the next two rows but calculating MEDIAN and MODE instead of MEAN. The functions for MEDIAN and MODE are =MEDIAN(Cell:Cell) and =MODE(Cell:CELL)
      3. The last calculation we're going to do is a percentage to show what percentage of the total each color in the bag is. We are going to use the Class Totals row for this calculation. First in the row below the Mode row, enter Percents in column A then tab over to Column B. Enter the formula to calculate the percentage of Red M&Ms to the total number of M&Ms. Hint: Divide (use the slash / for division) the number of Class Totals Red M&Ms (Column B) by the Total Class M&Ms (Column H) - e.g., if the Class Totals are on row 15, the formula you would enter for the percentage calculation of Red M&Ms would be: =B15/H15. This will give you a decimal answer and we want to show this as a Percentage - to do this click on the Percent Button on your toolbar. Calculate percents for all of the M&M columns (B through G).
   4. SAVE YOUR WORK

M&M Graphing:

Sometimes it's easier to see things with pictures so we're going to make some graphs from our M&M Worksheet.

1. Open Excel & open your Candy Worksheet
2. We made a graph on paper using our M&Ms at the start of this activity. Now, let's try to recreate that in Excel.
   1. To create a column graph (that is what Excel calls a vertical bar graph), you will need to highlight the cells containing the labels for the graph (in this case that is the color names) and the cells containing the data you want to graph (in this case that is columns B through G on the row with your name). To select cells that aren't together, hold down the CTRL-Key and click on the cells you want to include.
   2. Click on the Chart Wizard and you will see a pop-up window that shows you all the different types of graphs that Excel can create. Choose the Column icon and click on Next.
   3. Verify the cell range reference for the data you have selected in the next pop-up window. If this is correct, click Next.
   4. Give the graph a title (something like <Your Name> M&Ms) and click on Next and then on Finish in the final step.
   5. Move your graph off of your data by dragging it to where you want it to be - either to the right of your entered data or below the totals.
   6. SAVE YOUR WORK

Does this graph look like the graph we created on paper? Probably not quite because the graph in Excel uses default colors, so let's change the colors to match our M&M colors:

• Select your chart by clicking on it and then:
  • Click on the first column in your chart; this will select all of the columns. Click on the first column again and this will select only that column.
  • Use the Flood Fill Bucket to change the color of the column to the appropriate color.
  • Repeat for the remaining columns. You only need to click once on each of the additional columns to select that column.
• SAVE YOUR WORK

Now the graph probably looks more like the one we created but we can make it look even more like our original graph by turning the chart into a pictograph. What's a pictograph? That's a graph that uses pictures instead of colors to represent data. And, here's how we can do that:

• Again, select your chart by double clicking on it and then:
  • Put your mouse over the M&M that is the color of your 1st column and then click on the right mouse button. Don't select the image, just put your mouse over it. This will display a menu, click on COPY to copy the M&M to the clipboard.
  • Select the first column in your graph and go to EDIT > PASTE or press CTRL+V to paste the M&M into the column.
  • Double click on the first column and a pop-up menu will display. Select the Patterns tab and then click the Fill Effects button.
  • On the left side, choose Stack and scale to: and type 1 in the Units/Picture box. Click OK twice. You may need to resize your graph; to do this click on the corner of the graph and drag outwards to make it bigger.
  • Repeat for the remaining columns. Don't forget to copy each M&M from the Candy Counting page.

Now we have a pretty good representation of what our original graph on paper looked like! How do your totals compare to the Class Mean (Average)? Let's graph that and see!

• Click on your graph to select it and then:
  • Select EDIT > COPY or press CTRL+C to copy your graph.
  • Click on your spreadsheet where you want the new graph to be.
  • Select EDIT > PASTE or press CTRL+V to paste a copy of your graph.
  • Click on the new graph to select it and then:
    1. Under the Chart menu, choose Add Data
    2. A pop-up menu will appear. Select the cells containing the data you want to add (in this case, highlight the data in columns B through G on the Mean row). The cell references will be copied in the Range input box. Click OK.
    3. Change the colors on the Class Totals columns to reflect the appropriate color for the M&M.
• SAVE YOUR WORK

Do your M&M totals match the class mean totals? Are there any differences? Why do you think this would be? Let's create a Pie Chart to see what our percentage distribution looks like as a class:

• To create a pie chart, you will need to highlight the cells containing the labels for the graph (in this case that is the color names) and the cells containing the data you want to graph (in this case that is columns B through G on the Class Totals row). To select cells that aren't together, hold down the CTRL-Key and click on the cells you want to include.
• Click on the Chart Wizard and you will see a pop-up window that shows you all the different types of graphs that Excel can create. Choose the Pie Chart icon and click on Next.
  • Verify the cell range reference for the data you have selected in the next pop-up window. If this is correct, click Next.
  • In the Data Labels tab, verify that Category Name and Percentage are selected.
  • Click on the Titles tab and title your graph Class M&M Totals and click on Finish.
  • Select your chart by clicking on it.
  • Click on a piece of the pie and then click on it again. This will select only that piece.
  • Use the Flood Fill Bucket to change the color to the appropriate color.
  • Repeat for the remaining pieces of the pie.
• SAVE YOUR WORK

Now repeat the steps above to create a pie chart for your counts.